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| #OmniTen: Surrounded by beautiful people in a beautiful place. Photo: William Rochfort Jr. : WMRJr.com |
It wasn't much more than two years ago when these types of opportunities were escalating rapidly from dreams to concrete reality. Oddly enough, it was happening at a time when my life was also crashing down around me.
The situation is not important, but the way I worked around it is. Most people allow themselves to become paralyzed in this particular situation. I fell victim here. For two months I was frozen and life stood still. It wasn't until a particularly harsh blow cracked the ice encasing my life and the epiphany came:
I write my own story.
So I took action. I stopped waiting for things to get better, I swallowed an uncomfortable amount of courage, and took a leap. And you know what? I didn't die. I actually flew.
Pain hurts. Then you grow. Don't let things stop you because they're uncomfortable. Don't let others slow you down as you're blazing your life's trail. If they don't follow, keep on forging your path even if it's alone for a while. You'll find your pace and when you do, your "real" life will come flocking to you. That's the best place you can be.
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By the way, big thank you to Will for a great outing in exploration of nocturnal digital imaging!
You know, I think you and I are more similar than we realized :) Great post, Gina!
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Love this.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Gina! It was wonderful to meet you on the trip, and I hope we get to hang out again soon!
ReplyDeleteI was totally planning on sharing this photo on my blog today too, but now I am a total loss as to how my accompanying post can in any way compare to the beautiful things you've written here. I love this Gina! And I love that I'm not the only one for whom the 'real' world has become a blurry concept. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Gina! You inspire me. Keep burning bright. Love ya.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!!
ReplyDeleteLove it Gina. Fly!
ReplyDeleteI love you Gina! What a fantastic post that hits home with me. I'm striving to write my own story. I see my first chapter just now starting to be written. Hugs to you!
ReplyDeleteGina, the entire #OmniTen team has truly captured my attention, and I've found so many of your collective posts and pics to be incredibly inspiring. Because it captures the essence of the journey of the spirit so eloquently, I find your post here to ride the crest of that inspiration wave. It's a good read, a great reminder to us all about our continual need to walk the paths we've set for ourselves despite obstacles, and it's a great inspiration for beginning a new week. I'm so glad you wrote it. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGina, this is the most amazing blog I have ever read.. Not just of yours, but any! Probably because I relate to this so much. Unfortunately it took a lot longer than 2 months for me to move forward.. Closer to 10 years. Its these events that shape of lives.. The damaging obes seem to have a harsher effect. But when you hit the bottom, there's no where to go but up.. You an amazing person, whom if nothing else, has inspired at least one other.. I admire & envy you, and enjoy all you have shared. Remember, there's always light at the end of the tunnel.. Sometimes you just have to reach for it. Keep on adventuring. And keep writing, I'll keep reading... Thank you
ReplyDeleteLovely photo? More like lovely post. I love brilliant prose.
ReplyDelete...here are two (plus a bonus) of my favorite quotes:
1) History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.
- I wrote this on the contact list, but since I still haven't seen a copy of it, I'm not sure if it made it around. I believe this is a Churchill quote.
2) Our greatest fear should not be that we fail, but that we succeed at things that don't really matter.
- This is my quote for my annual 2012 planning, and I think I commandeered it from Francis Chan (although he probably didn't say it first). How do you measure what matters, and whether or not you're successful with it? It's a fundamental question for a fulfilled life.
3) Okay, so this isn't pithy, but it's a favorite. I love me some TR (what he did for conservation was incredible), and his ability to deliver a stemwinder was unparalleled.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
So keep crushing life, although for the record, life is best crushed whilst living out past the Rockies. Hope to see you back home out west soon-
WMR
"I realized I wasn't wired for mediocrity, sorrow, complacency, fear. I was wired to live my dreams..." This rings home with me. This, and much of the sentiment behind this post - taking action...moving forward...reaching for the life less ordinary.
ReplyDeleteI started my blog a little over a year ago after a long, tiresome battle with some health issues that left me feeling like half the person I knew myself to be. The person I wanted to be was raging against the person I had become...and I needed change.
Growth can be painful, stripping away the past can be painful, summoning the courage to take those first steps forward as you forge your own path is nothing short of amazing. Mediocrity be damned! You deserve to live the dream...
Very inspiring Gina. Life is too short to let yourself be unhappy! After my sister died and missed out on things she was waiting to do, I decided it was time to live my dream and move to the Gunks. It brings me joy every day that I see those cliffs and realize that this is home. Sharing this post all over the place. Maybe, just maybe, it will inspire someone who is feeling at the end of their rope to get up, get out, and rewrite their story.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this post :) We do often forget that we have the power to decide how we live our lives. I wish more people realized that we do, indeed, write our own life stories!
ReplyDelete